November
by SilverWolf7
Summary: The Doctor takes Martha to a planet called November, hoping it will do something it can't.


November

"Welcome, Martha, to a little planet in a galaxy far away from yours, called November! Known for its...well, rain mostly, but still, lovely place once you get past the wet."

Martha looked around with a smile on her face and shook her head. "So! This rain then, where is it?"

"Oh! It only rains when strangers to the planet are visiting. It's one of the things people come here for. The rain is known as being cleansing. Or, so I've been told. I've never been here before, but heard all about it from Jack."

Her smile turned slightly cheeky at that one. "Oh? And who is Jack?"

Shaking his head, the Doctor sighed. "He travelled for a while with me and Rose."

Martha rolled her eyes and took a step out of the TARDIS and onto the ground and almost instantly a light shower of rain started. Startled, she let out a shout and jumped back inside. After a few more lazy seconds, the rain stopped altogether.

With a huge grin on her face, she took another step out, expecting it to rain on her a bit more, but confused when it didn't happen.

She smiled up at the clouds that seemed to be a permanent fixture of the sky, and laughed. "Wow, this is amazing. So, what? It only rains when it feels the person it's raining on is sad or upset or something like that? Or does it lightly shower and make people feel good? I can see why this place would be popular to tourists. Come on Doctor, aren't you coming out?"

He nodded his head, grinned in her direction and took a lone step out of the TARDIS.

He quickly hopped back in. As soon as his foot had exited the TARDIS, the sky had darkened considerably and the fluffy grey clouds had turned a dark, thunderous colour. As soon as he was safely back in the TARDIS, the sky had cleared back to its normal light grey covering.

Martha blinked. "Umm, I take that as a no then? And why would it storm for you? I got a few drops of rain."

He looked at her, and she could almost drown in whatever emotion it was that was in his eyes. That was deep. Very deep. She didn't think he'd looked that way at her when he had been discussing his dead planet and people to her in that alley on New Earth.

"I didn't understand what Jack had meant. He said that for a few days when he was here it rained pretty hard, then it petered out into the light shower you got, and then stopped. I haven't been here, I told you that already. But I don't think the rain is cleansing."

Martha, shivering, jumped back into the TARDIS and sat next to him by the doorway. "So, it is bad? Or just likes to make people wet, or what?"

He shook his head and sighed. "No. It takes what people are feeling, and somehow projects that physically as weather. When you stepped out, I'd just mentioned Rose. You don't like mentions of her, don't think I haven't noticed. You got showered on, because while it may have made you feel a negative emotion, it mustn't have been very deep, or not very important. When it stopped as you came in, you were fascinated by it. That took on as no rain, because it isn't negative."

"Yeah, okay, but why storm for you?"

He took a deep breath and shook his head. "Well, for starters, one of the many names I'm known as by enemies is the Oncoming Storm. You make up your mind about that one."

He was avoiding the issue. So, she sat with him for a while, staring outside. "Well, does it only rain when people are outside? We could make a dash to the nearest town?"

He shook his head, got up and closed the doors. "Nah, we'll just...go somewhere else. Sorry. I wasn't really expecting that. I thought that it was what you did. Something that helped or cleansed and was decidedly good. This isn't that. I can't go out, I'd probably end up destroying the planet."

Martha laughed a bit at that. "Doctor, I doubt a bit of a storm would destroy the planet."

"No, not just a storm. I don't want this planet having to suffer because of my feelings."

They fell quiet for a while, her staying on the grating by the door, while the Doctor got up and moved around the console, a lot slower than normal. Getting sore, she got up and walked over to the seat instead. "So...not just a storm then?"

He sighed loudly and glared at her. "My brain has a nifty little trick which makes me capable of holding several lines of thought at once. November takes the surface emotions, the ones you are actively feeling at the time. Toss in several different emotions, mix with the deeper ones, and that is not just a storm, that is confusing, mindless, whirling emotions and thought. It wouldn't be able to figure it all out. And most of that being...bad..."

Martha nodded, not really understanding half of what he meant. "So...cyclone or something then. I can see how that'd be bad, but destroy the whole planet?"

"Believe me, it would be catastrophic to the planet to have weather that bad. Their buildings are made out of light materials, held together by a mud-like glue substance. Strong, but not able to withstand cyclone force winds. They'd have to completely rebuild, but it would also destroy everything needed to rebuild in the first place. I don't even want to think about what would happen to food crops and stores..."

Martha blinked. "Wow, that bad? I didn't know. Sorry. It looked like you were going to have fun here. Guess not. So! Somewhere else then?"

He nodded at her, and she immediately knew that what she had just said, while something he may say himself, was completely insensitive. Sighing she shook her head. "Sorry. We can stay here and just rest a while if you want. We don't have to go anywhere."

He shook his head. "Nah, might as well go somewhere else. No point me being here any longer."

His tone sounded so down, she hugged him close in an attempt to comfort him. He shrugged out of her grip. Shaking her head, she frowned at him. "You were looking forward to coming here, weren't you?"

He nodded. "Yeah, a bit. I know, it's stupid, but I just...never mind, doesn't matter."

She had a feeling she knew what he was about to say. He had thought that he would feel better by coming here, only to find out that the planet's oddity ended up being something different to what he had originally thought, given what his friend had told him. Not being able to go out would be the biggest slap across the face the universe could give him.

Giving him another quick hug, she left him to his thoughts, knowing that they'd only go so far as the vortex that the TARDIS travelled through that day. She'd go to the library on board and find herself some medical texts. A bit of study would give him time alone, and her the bonus of not failing in becoming a doctor when she was done travelling with him.

Still, she wished there was something more that she could do for him, but knowing there wasn't.

She doubted he'd accept her help in anything personal anyway.


End file.
